Antique Chair Revival

It's time for another makeover! Each month, our "Furniture Refresh" group takes a piece of furniture and refreshes it into a new life. You never know what we come up with! 

I was excited to redo this antique Windsor style chair I found at a flea market in the Hudson Valley. It's one of my favorite places to go for great farmhouse things. I scored with the chair, an antique cast iron bell, and an old milk box. 

There were several chairs available but this cutie caught my eye. 

Those spindles are so slim, crooked, and just plain sweet. Even though the chair was banged up quite a bit, I could envision it refinished to remain old looking. 

Normally any beat up piece with cracks could be filled in, sanded, then painted. But this chair deserved to show its years by leaving all of the scars exposed. 

A fan back American Windsor like this dates into the 1700's. If it survived this long, why not show it? 

So I sanded it. A lot. But not too crazy in the creases and cracks. Allowing the old paint to accentuate all of them. Including a lot of old wormholes. 

After becoming impatient with sanding, I cleaned the dust off, rubbed in coconut oil to condition the wood, then used a dark antique wax to seal the whole chair. It brought back the true identity. 

A few of the spindles were previously broken and repaired. And done well, as they were holding up. (Probably why the chair was painted.) The dark wax shows where the breaks were. Wormholes are all over the hand carved seat and they actually look amazing. 

Check out these handmade spindles. A bit crooked, but so fascinating! 

In fact the whole backrest is bit off. Like, it became twisted. 

The cracks are really obvious with the paint removed. 

Surprisingly, the chair is sturdy despite its age. 

I'm a sucker for antiques like this and believe they should be refinished if they can. Although it isn't valuable because of its condition, it sure is handsome; war wounds and all. 

With all of its scars and age lines, it's very functional. 

And it displays plenty of character. 

Sitting there all twisted and crooked, it fits into our home just fine. 

It will sit in our dining room as an accent piece. Used when necessary. After all, being a couple hundred years old, it should rest. After several more polishings, it should continue to shine in its own glory. 

Well, that's my makeover of the month. Let's see what the other group members did with their crazy amazing talent!! 

Here are the before photos: 

Click on the blogs to see the finished outcome: 

A Purdy Little House

Our Crafty Mom

Michelle James Designs

Redo It Yourself Inspirations

Shelstring

Cedar Chest Restoration

In the day of painting furniture, I'm one of the fortunate ones that can paint or remove paint for clients. Most of my local business is primarily stripping and restorations. It's not as popular to share as painting is. But, it's always a long and tedious job while I take pride in my work and try to make the project better than asked for.

This job is the sweetest by far and I must share it.

The customer is an elderly gentleman who found my card at another local business. He called me "secretly" and asked me to strip and refinish his wife's trunk. "It must be done without her knowing. It's our anniversary and I have to get it to you when she goes to lunch this month and get it back to hide it before the big day". Then, with two jobs ahead of his, he calls again in a minor panic. "She may only go out once and I'm not sure what day. Is it possible to have it done earlier?" I assured him I'd work consistently to get it done as soon as possible so when that next opportunity for him to sneak away came, he will have his gift ready.

I love doing jobs like this. It just yanks my heart. I low-balled the quote, but I didn't mind because of the reason for the job.

That was before I knew what I was getting into. You know... looks like a simple sand and refinish.

But missing veneer, set in stains, and dinged up, (probably why it was painted to begin with)... the paint was decades old with layers of enamel aaaaand topped with a clear finish... it was a really big chore. Hard as rock finishing and I'm the lucky one to remove all of it. Of course, the Mr. had no idea what I was getting into either. I didn't have it in me to call him and tell him this is bigger than we thought. Not to mention, the Mrs. could be there and he would have some explaining to do.

But the good news is, it's a well built Lane cedar chest and the interior was untouched. Not in pristine condition, but easy to clean up. The light fixture was cut from the exterior, obviously not a concern for repair. The lining needed cleaning. And to liven up the cedar aroma, a very light hand sanding over the interior wasn't bad at all.

Hand sanding was impossible.
I was worried about stripping chemicals rippling the veneer, but after several hours of pouring and wiping, most of the layers of paint came off.

 Then I used a palm sander to get more of it off.

I was able to trim and glue new veneer onto the missing areas. Then hand sand the entire chest. Finally, applied the stain on the new veneer to match. 

I used coconut oil to condition the wood, then after sitting and drying, a natural clear wax to seal it.

It's very vintage.

After being in a basement for 30 years, this refreshed piece is going to be reused in the couple's new home.

The gentleman was pleased with the job and successfully surprised his bride.

It was a beast to work on, but it finally came back to life.

It was ready for the big day. Such a sweet thought, isn't it?